Can they create a legacy?

Bermuda’s Under-17 women are poised to make history tonight.

The girls take on Haiti in a CFU semi-final match with the winner automatically to the CONCACAF qualifier stage for the Under-17 World Cup.

Bermuda had an unbeaten run of three victories in the group stage thanks in large part to a stingy defence that allowed the Lady Gombey warriors to make the most of their goals.

It’s not lost on the team tonight will be the biggest challenge yet as they face home crowd favourite Haiti.

Richard Todd, Bermuda Football Association national academy director, told the Bermuda Sun, said the unbeaten run has been a boost for women’s football.

“The girls have played well. They went into this tournament very focused. They are learning and growing from it every day and that is evidenced.”

The final four of the tournament contains some of the giants of the CONCACAF region with Puerto Rico and Trinidad & Tobago — a side Bermuda beat 1-0 — the other two teams.

Todd said coach Aaron Denkins and his staff are working with the girls not to get ahead of themselves as there is still work to be done.

“The coaches are working to make sure they are grounded and focused and not allow them to become overly confident with the results they have achieved so far in the group. 

“They have put themselves in good position where they have a chance to play for everything. The main goal was to try to qualify for the final of the CONCACAF Round.”

The Academy director saying keeping the team to a routine and not allow them to dwell on the significance of tonight’s event should also help them “not become overly anxious. Just maintain the preparation like it was any other match. We have respect for the opponent, but we certainly don’t have fear of the opponent.”

Todd said the team’s success “will help spur the growth of the game for girls in Bermuda and that will be tremendous. If you think what Mia Hamm and what her teammates did in the US. Girls were saying ‘I am Mia Hamm”. It is not on that huge of a scale but it is more than just about this tournament and this game. 

“They have a chance to spark the interest of a lot of young girls and inspire them to say ‘I can play too’. But that should also generate support from the community and sponsors to get behind the girls with regard to their development."